Disclaimer: RK is not mine but Nobuhiro Watsuki's.

Summary: In an era where trust is hard to come by, Okita Souji and 
Saitou Hajime have a binding friendship. Against the backdrop of an 
unfolding war and the threat of an unknown assassin, two friends find 
themselves at the point where sometimes, being just friends is not nearly 
enough...

Warning: This is a story centring around Okita and Saitou. Yes, it will 
be yaoi-ish. No, I will not apologise for it. If it offends you, then 
please stop reading now. As for my characterisations of Saitou and 
Okita, there will be OOCness although I will do my best to make things 
believable. Also, I've meddled with history and made up events. This is 
fiction, neh?

Notes: Dear all, this is the end of the story. No doubt, you would have 
noticed that it is short...ridiculously short but not for want of my 
trying. I simply could not come out with something longer and did not 
want to force the chapter. In the end, I think it will do, short, sweet 
and none too waffy, I hope. Thank you to each and everyone of you for 
reviewing and even more so to those who reviewed more than once. It's been 
a wonderful first foray into yaoi fiction for me and it's very much 
because of you. Also, I must apologise for the long delay. My NEW laptop 
was defective and needed to be sent for servicing and I just collected 
it today. 

MsJadey, I think all of us would pity the poor fools that even attempt 
to harm Okita. As you say, he can definitely look after himself and now 
that he's together with Saitou...err...not a good idea to be funny with 
him. And I did dabble with a short fight scene between them but it 
didn't work out. In the end, I don't think Saitou would have drawn his 
blade nor would Okita have been rude enough to force him to. Midori, I'm a 
softie myself at times but I had to keep in mind it was Saitou. Still, 
hope this ending is sweet enough for you. Firuze, well, not much of a 
grand finale, but yep, Okita knows how to get his way and I'm glad you 
enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it. Kamorgana, I had to 
chuckle at your comment on Okita exhibiting feminine qualities by asking for 
an explanation. It reminded me of my first boyfriend who came all the 
way to my house and demanded an explanation for our break-up. Coward 
that I was, I refused to give him one. O_O However *ahem* that was a Very 
Long time ago. As mentioned above, I will be ending this story here but 
in the future, I might attempt a one-shot dealing with Okita's death. 
If you'd like, I'll email you if and when it happens. Devil, well, I 
never denied it. ^_^ But things will end happily after all. April-san, 
thanks for all your comments and humour! And how is your computer...I 
mean, your head? *G* Susan, yes, love is where you find it and when you do, 
it deserves to be cherished. I'm a bit sad myself that this story ends 
here but with time and some inspiration, I should have another up my 
sleeve soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter too. Mara, 
thanks for the comment, I was aiming for this fic to be different somehow 
from the other stories, although there are some fantastic ones that I 
have read. 

One last thing. I must explain that since Nise is a pseudonym, I won't 
be submitting reviews under this name. However, I do review stories 
that I read and I can safely say that I have read and reviewed stories by 
at least half of you. So, please don't think that I never bother 
reading and reviewing other people's work. God knows, there were times when I 
should have been sleeping or studying...*l*... 



VI. Aftermath

Moonbeams slanted in through the windows, slowly traversing the 
floorboards, shining over the floor mats, illuminating the darkness. It bathed 
the futon a stark glowing white, revealed the urgent rise and fall of 
bodies upon the sheets, the glistening sweat on sleek golden skin.

There was a muffled cry, followed by a low, drawn out groan. And then 
all was still. 

When his rapid breathing finally slowed and some semblance of thought 
returned to him, Saitou raised himself up on his elbows and looked down 
at his lover. Who had fallen asleep. The boy had fallen asleep on him. 
His lip curled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, not that 
he was expecting any post-coital cuddling and was rather relieved that 
there was none. But to be fair to Okita, he had pushed him to his 
physical limits. Slipping out of the futon, he pulled on his clothes but did 
not leave the room. Instead, he sat back down, leaning against the wall 
and contemplated the choice he had made. There were things that he had 
to come to terms with and accept if his relationship with Okita was 
going to survive the events of this night. 

..... ....... ........ .......

He awoke, but did not open his eyes at once. To say his entire body 
ached was an understatement. Okita knew that his neck bore some marks that 
would inevitably give away what he had done this night but he didn't 
care about that either. What bothered him was the missing warmth of 
Saitou's body next to his. 

"You're awake."

His eyes shot open and fell on Saitou. Sitting up, Okita wrapped the 
sheets around him and ignored the mocking gleam in the other's eyes. He 
wasn't suffering from a case of belated modesty nor was he cold. But the 
gesture was more protective than anything else. Saitou had given him 
what he wanted. But just what did Saitou himself want? That question had 
gone unanswered. And from the looks of it, or rather, the look on 
Saitou's face, that question was going to remain unanswered unless Okita 
himself asked.

"So...?" 

Saitou lifted a brow. "So?"

"I mean...well..." 

There it was again, that infuriating smirk. Okita's temper, already 
stretched thin from tension, snapped. "Fine, I understand. You can leave 
now." 

Within seconds Saitou was at his side. Fingers twined in his hair and 
pulled, tilting his face up. Okita tried to turn away, a stubborn part 
of him bent on resisting the inevitable. Instead of forcing the kiss, 
Saitou simply transferred his attention to the sensitive column of 
Okita's neck. 

"Stop it," Okita said a tad breathlessly as he tried to squirm away 
only to find himself hampered by the sheets and by Saitou's arm that 
firmly held him in place. 

"Still want me to leave?" 

"Do you want to?"

Lifting his head, Saitou gave Okita a cool look. "No. I was only 
teasing you just now. You were the one who jumped to conclusions." 

"Will you please be serious-" 

"I am serious, Souji. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here," Saitou 
interrupted. Souji. This was the second time that he had called Okita by his 
given name. "Although I must admit, I never really planned on this."

"I didn't plan on this either. Why were you outside my room anyway?"

There was a long silence before he got a reply. And it was the first 
time that Okita ever saw Saitou look distinctly uncomfortable. "Matsubara 
told me that you went with Harada and the rest to the brothels. I 
didn't like hearing that."

He was jealous. Hajime had been jealous, Okita realised. 

"Don't look so happy about it," Saitou snapped but it was all bark and 
no bite. It was quite impossible to be angry over a trifle like this. 
And if he was honest, he had put Okita through a lot. 'And so much for 
no post-coital cuddling,' Saitou thought wryly as Okita snuggled tightly 
against him and rested his head in the hollow of his shoulder. Oddly 
enough though, it didn't feel half as uncomfortable as he had always 
imagined it would be. 

"So what happens now?" Okita asked softly. 

"I'm not going to leave you, if that's what you are getting at." Okita 
coloured slightly and Saitou knew he was right. "I told you I was 
serious about this Souji, and I am. Things won't be the same as before. But 
I can live with the difference." He smoothed Okita's ruffled brown 
hair, enjoying the silky feel of it and knowing that the gesture would take 
the edge off his words that, even he had to admit, sounded rather cold. 
He would never be one for heartfelt confessions or tender words. 
Perhaps that was why Souji's admission had affected him to such a degree. 

There was still a lot that Hajime was not telling him, reasons that he 
would prefer to keep to himself. That was fine with Okita. Eventually 
Hajime would thaw out as the relationship progressed but this was enough 
for now. 'Maybe it will always be enough,' Okita thought to himself, 
closing his eyes. He was on the brink of falling asleep again when a 
question occurred to him that he had to ask. "Earlier on, you said that I 
didn't know what I wanted. Why did you say that?"

Saitou chuckled, he had been expecting this question. It wasn't like 
Souji to simply let a statement like that slide. "Remember, you asked me 
why I couldn't tolerate us being just friends. You should ask yourself 
first. Knowing full well how things were between us, would you have 
been satisfied merely being my friend?"

"No." The answer came to him straight and simple. It would have been 
too much to bear. And he had agonised over that very same question, had 
been asking it ever since he realised that what he felt for Hajime was 
more than plain friendship. "I see what you mean." They had reached a 
point where friendship had irrevocably crossed over into something much 
deeper. From that moment, it had been impossible for them to remain only 
friends. It had to be either love or nothing at all. 

Love. He had known long before and accepted that he loved Saitou. But 
whether or not he was loved in return...that was something he would find 
out, with time. But when Saitou kissed him again, there was a 
tenderness there that convinced Okita he would not have to wait long for the 
answer.



OWARI